After All These Years
by Colliequest
Summary: Gosh, this story is almost a year old...my idea of might happen to Ahsoka Tano if she doesn't die. K to be safe, since it talks about the Jedi Purge. Oneshot.


Man, I wrote this almost a year ago! Anyway, now that I've got an account on here, I wanted to post it here. It's also on deviantART. I honestly cringe when I read this story. I don't have much faith in my narration skills. But, let's see what you think, eh? Oh, and this has one of my own OC characters in it. Dash. A tiger. A Jedi tiger. 0.0 Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or Ahsoka Tano or her droid. I just like to play with ideas involving them. But George Lucas better keep his hands off of Dash--Dasheh is MINE. LOL

-  
Ahsoka sat in her room thinking of the past. Order 66. She remembered how her Master had sent her on a mission with the clones, and how the clones had betrayed her. She had been a Jedi Knight for about a month at the time. Anakin had trained her well, but it was mostly luck that helped her survive. She had flown off in her Delta Seven afterwards, along with her astromech, Arseven. She had landed in a secluded location near Coruscant. If she had landed at the normal landing bays, she would probably have been killed. She had sneaked around the city, trying to find what was happening. Gradually, she had gathered that the Chancellor had declared himself Emporer and ordered all of the Jedi slain. She kept hearing about a certain "Darth Vader", too.

She had approached the Jedi Temple, and run into Master Yoda and Master Obi-wan Kenobi, who were on their way to some some sort of meeting. She had confided in them as to what to do, and their advice was to go into exile, which was what they were going to do as well. When she asked where she should go, Yoda recommended her home planet, Shili. "But that's the first place they would look for me.", she had argued.  
"Look there they will not." Yoda said calmly. "Think that would be too obvious they do. But do your best to hide your Force sensitivity, you must." After thanking the Masters, she had went off to her Delta Seven to depart. During the flight, she had wondered what had become of her Master, Anakin Skywalker. He may have died in the Order 66, she thought, mentally crying. Or perhaps he survived too and went into exile...he was too powerful to be overtaken by clones. She had tried to sense his Force signature, and it felt...changed. It felt...dark. Did that mean he had died, or went into hiding? Or something worse? No, that couldn't have happened, she refused to believe it was possible. She had tried to go deeper, to learn more about what might have happened to her Master, but it was as if it was blocked from her. I wonder if that's what happens when a Jedi dies...you can't do anything but sense their death.  
Her Master had been a good man, he couldn't have turned to the Dark Side...he must have died. She didn't like that possibility either, but it sounded better than saying he turned evil.

Upon her arrival to Shili, she decided that it would be best if she didn't try to meet anyone, especially any old friends or family she had had back before she was brought to the Jedi Temple. They would be happy to see her, as she would be happy to see them--oh, what she would give to meet them again!--, but it was best if as few people as possible knew of her prescence. She had picked a secluded part of the planet as her home, her only company Arseven. She had hidden her Delta Seven. To keep it running, she went to it and ran the motor a couple of times a week, but never flew it for safety reasons. It was the same place she was in now, and all that had happened more than 23 years ago. She had been 17 at the time, and she was now 40. She was feeling depressed at the moment, wondering what was happening. For 23 years, she had shut out the news of the world. Had just hunted on her own, and basically avoided all contact with the outside whenever possible, except for a few run-ins with some Togrutas. But she never asked if they knew what was happening, because she somehow felt it would hurt too much. The last time she had been around somewhere was almost a year ago. She wondered if the Empire was even still in power. Probably is. "Not anymore, Snips."  
Startled, she turned around to see who spoke. Could it be? And saw...her Master? As a Force ghost? I guess he did die in Order 66..., she thought absent-mindedly. "Master?" she said increduously.  
"It's been a long time, Snips." Anakin's ghost said, smiling. "The Empire has been taken down. It still exists, but it's no longer in power."  
"How?"  
"A group called the Rebel Alliance had banded together several years ago. Just days ago, they were able to take down the Empire."  
Speechless, Ahsoka didn't reply.  
"I came to tell you this and to ask your forgiveness, my old Padawan."  
"Forgiveness? But, Master, you didn't do anything wrong, did you?" Ahsoka was confused.  
"I did, Ahsoka, though you weren't aware of it." Anakin said a bit sadly. "See, I was seduced to the Dark Side. After Order 66, I hunted down Jedi to kill off any that remained. I was Darh Vader."  
Ahsoka's eyes grew wide as the full realization hit her. So, despite her refusal to admit it upon arriving to Shilli back when the Empire first took control, he had gone Dark Side. And he had been Darth Vader, no less? "That was you?!"  
"Yes, and I spent quite a bit of time searching for you."  
Ahsoka shivered a little at this. "I wasn't planning to kill you," Anakin continued. "Though that was what Darth Sideous, the Emporer, wanted. I planned to take you once again as my apprentice, to train you to serve the Dark Side. Looked all over the galaxy for you. I even looked here, but I didn't find your hiding spot. I regret to say that I captured some Togruta to see if they knew anything about you, but they said they didn't...and I couldn't get anything out of them.  
I was turned back to the Light Side when the Empire was overthrown. So, the question is this: Do you forgive me for turning to the Dark Side, betraying you, and terrorizing people--including your own people--,my old Padawan?"  
Ahsoka bit the inside of her lip as she thought it over. After a minute, she nodded. "I forgive you, Master," she said.  
Anakin smiled. "I thank you, Snips."  
"I guess I'll be getting out of here now. I'm getting pretty tired of this place." Ahsoka said with her old somewhat-mischievous demeanor.  
"I suggest that you soon depart for Bakura. Look for someone named Luke there." Anakin's spirit faded out.  
Arseven beeped.  
"Oh, nothing, Arseven. C'mon, we've gotta go now."  
Another series of questioning beeps came in response.  
"Don't worry, we aren't in danger anymore. Not in as great of danger, anyway. Come on, first we'll go see if we can find my friends and family. After all these years, they may be worried about me."  
Ahsoka found no one. Darth Vader must have killed them after trying to ask them about me. She felt sadness grip her heart again, followed by a bittersweet feeling. She felt cheerful, yet saddened.  
"C'mon Arseven," she said cheerfully. "We're going to fly the Delta Seven out of here." Arseven beeped, sounding happy to be able to perform his main function again. They strolled over to the spot where the Delta Seven sat hidden. Arseven hopped into the droid socket, and hummed something softly to himself. As Ahsoka approached the craft, a hooded, four-legged figure appeared out of the shadows. Her hand went automatically to her lightsaber, but once she saw what the figure was, she went forward and hugged it. "Dash!" she exclaimed. The large tiger half-growled, half-purred softly, the equivalent of a chuckle. "Hello, Ahsoka. I didn't expect to find you here. I just felt directed by the Force to come to Shili, then to this spot. And I find you here." Dash, a Force-sensitive tiger, has been a friend of Ahsoka's during the Clone Wars. He had been a padawan also, and became a Jedi Knight not long after Ahsoka met him.  
Ahsoka stepped back.  
"It's so good to see you."  
"The feeling is mutual," Dash acknowledged. "My X-Wing is parked nearby. How has it been going for you? Too bad you couldn't have been involved in the Rebellion. You would have been a great asset."  
"I wish I could have been, but I avoided all contact that I could for safety." Ahsoka explained. "If I had known, I would have helped. I will try. I've been mostly surviving all this time. Arseven's been my only company."  
"You still can help us. The New Republic will need your help."  
The New Republic. The very words seemed to comfort her.  
"Yes..." Ahsoka looked down. So much had happened and she hadn't even known about it. Looking up, she decided to tell Dash about her visit from Anakin. "Anakin's Force ghost visited me."  
Dash looked her in the eye. "Really?" he commented, as though he was surprised, yet had half-expected it.  
"He said that I should depart to Bakura to meet someone named Luke."  
"Luke Skywalker?"  
This time it was Ahsoka's turn to look Dash in the eye. "Skywalker? You mean he's related to Anakin?"  
"Forgive me, I thought you already knew of it. Yes, he is related to Anakin. He's his son, in fact. It was he who convinced Anakin to turn back to the Light Side."  
"But how is that possible? Jedi weren't allowed attachment, or marriage."  
"He was secretly married to Senator Amidala." Dash explained.  
"Oh." Ahsoka acknowledge. She couldn't think of anything else to say. But she did have to admit that it made sense...Anakin had seemed to have an attachment to the Senator.  
"Would it be alright if I came with you?" Dash asked, interrupting her thoughts.  
"Sure. You can follow me in your...X-Wing, is it?"  
"Yes." Dash nodded. "I will do so." He walked off. Ahsoka watched him for a minute. It again struck her how much she had missed of what was going on. It all seemed so much to take in at once. She walked over to her Delta Seven, where Arseven was waiting, still humming to himself. She opened the canopy and climbed into her seat, switching the aircraft on. Once all systems were online, she piloted the craft out of the planet to meet Luke, with Dash following a small distance behind.

So, how did you like it? Tips? 


End file.
